Glass-furnace.



no; sz9,-557." Patented July 25;, I899.

Fonn. GL-Ass- FURNACE.

(Application filed Oct. 13,1995

3 SheetsSheet i.

(lip i lod el.)

WIT.NESSES. I 7 INVENTOR,

Patentpd July, 25,1899;

E. FORD; GLASS FURNAEE. (Applicatioi filed peg- 13, 1898.)

3 lyeais-Shbet 3,

(No Model.)

IJV'VEJVTOR.

Unit-tat) raressow/tun roan, or WYANDOTT MICHIGAN- GLASS-FURNACE.

SPECIFIGk'fiON forming part of Letters Patent No; 629,557, dated July 25, 1899.

Application filed October 13,1898. Serial No. 693,437. (No model.)

To all whom it may comer 1':

Be it known that I, EDWARD FORD, of Wyandotte, in the county of Wayne and State of 1- Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Glass-Furnaces, of -which the following is a specification.

Up to the present time the best-known apparatus for the manufacture of plate'or rolled glass from the raw material and those which are now employed have required the use of melting and refining furnaces generally containing from sixteen to twenty (or even more) pots each. Into these pots the mixture of raw material (commonly. called batcl1-) from which the glass is made is placed and is there melted by long and continuous firing for a period of from twelve to fifteen hours or even longer. In order to complete the melting and refining of the glass, such extreme heat is necessary'that a very considerable loss of time (varying from three to four hours)i.s usually required for the reduction of the temperature of the furnaces and molten glass (or metal, as it is commonly called) before the latter can be rolled into plates, for the reason that if the melted glass be at too high a temperature it will be too liquid to be successfully poured on the rolling beds or tables, where it is to be rolled into plates. The extreme heat to which the pots (which are very costly) are subjected during the process of melting (over 3,000 Fahrenheit) tends to soften and weaken the walls of the pots very materially, and this weakening, together with the pressure of the liquid metal 'upon the interior, frequently causes them to break during this stage of the process, thereby causing a great loss of both pots and metal. This heating of the melted glass in the manufacturoof plateglass to a temperature considerably in excess of that at which it can be worked is necessary for the proper refining of the metal, by the term refining being meant thcexpnlsion of all air or gases which would otherwise form bubbles in the glass and n'iatcriall'y impair its appearance and value, the refining of the liquid glass or metal to the required degree being much more dillicult in the manufacture of plate-glass than in the manufacture of sheet or other blown glass.

In the manufacture of sheet and other blown melted in a tank-furnace and dipped from the tank into'pots, which are then placed in another or refining furnace, (separate from the tank-fu rnace,) where the melted glass is again heated and refined before being drawn off in condition for working, (thus endangering the pots, as above stated,) and glass for blowing is often taken directly from a tank-furnace in which it is melted without being placed in pots atall; but neither of these processes is well adapted for the manufacture of plate-glass, the process and apparatus first described being the best heretofore known for the successful manufacture of that kind of glass. 4

The object of my invention is to provide a suitable, simple, and effective apparatus for use in the manufacture of plate-glass whereby the batch may be melted in a tank-fun nace and the molten glass or metal thence drawn or allowed to tlow into pots in a refining-furnace in such a manner that it is both refined and cooled to such a'degree during its passage from the melting-tank to the pots as will permit, if desired, of its being at once drawn from the pots and rolled into plates without further loss of time, the drawing of the metal from the melting-tank to the pots being eifected without dipping or otherwise handling the same, means also being provided for conveniently regulating the temperature of the refining-furnace as desired, thereby effecting averyconsiderablc saving in time, labor, and matcrialover the methods at present employed in the manufacture of plate-glass.

While my invention and improvement is more especially designed for use in the manufact-u re of plate or rolled glass ,'it is of course applicable in the manufactu re of other kinds of glass, such as sheet or other blown glass, although obviouslyit may not in all caseseffeet an equal saving over the apparatus now in use for the manufacturcof such other forms of glass; but apparatus embodying my invention will,l believe, bca vcrymaterialimprovcmcnt over any existing apparatus for the manufacture of any kind of glass which it is necessary or desirable to refine very thoroughly before working, whether the same is to be-rolled, blown, or otherwise treated.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

hieh are illustrative oi a. form of combiner tiou melting; tank and pot reliningiurnnre eiulmdyiiu, my invention, Figure l is a View of the melting-tank und relininulurnnee in port horizontal section through the lines mm, Fig. :3, at the sides of the reliningpfururwe and shows in port plan view it longitudinallyoxi ended trough or (solid nit that (-on nects nnid tunic and furnace and through \vhioh conduit end. its spouts; the molten gloss is ooudueted to the porn, Fig. represents :tvorlieul trunnveree eeetii in through the refining-furnace. Fig. 3 re n'eeeute nvertioul longiludinul section through the relin iuglfuruuee and the pu suge by which it is; connected with the melt iug'tuuk, :1 portion of the lnttor being also uhown in Election; and Fig. l in u trunuverse section through the.eonnveting-passage between the melting-took and the refiningurnnce on the line 1] 1 lrig. ll. i

A represents u tunklurunee for the meltinn; of the run umterinl, whieh may be mode of any neuul mnterhd mu. appropriate (nntruotion (it dillering; from the melting-tunic. l'urnueee in common use only in its commotion'with the rellningr-fiu'nnee, as hereinafter expluined) and which is provided with the usual opening P [or the introduction of the batch or raw material and with floating bridges F F, which flout upon the surfuee oi the molten glues and prevent the impurities rieiugto and flouting upon the surface of the hitter from escaping when the glass is drawn oil. orullowed to flow into the refining lfurnuoo.

i represents at rnliuingdurunce in which the polio (i ll are plneod, under which are the air and gas chambers or regonrrutore ll ll, connected with the upper part of the furnace by the air and gals ports J J K l\', by means of which air and gas may be udmitted' us desired by the operator for the purpose of rogubiting the tomperuture of the roll hing-furnace.

The meltiug-tu'nkuml the refiniugfuruuoe are connected byu passage or conduit C, which extends throughout the length of the refiningfur'nuce end is Supported in the letter upon the walls I) 1), between which is an air-space vl, into which air may he admitted for the purpose of cooling the olls and conduit, thereby assisting in the cooling of the metal in its passage along the conduit to the desired temperuturefdn the conduit are openings 8 8, eonn'eoting with troughe or spouts t 4, leading to the pots G (l, by means of which the metal is withdrawn from the eoucluitinto the puts us desired. The openings 5 S, loudiug from the conduit to the pots, should be provided with suitable means for closing the some and preventing the escupe of metal into the pots oxeopt or. lilSil'Qd. Suitable means; l'or closing the passage between the meltingtunk and the refining-furnace may uluo be provided it found neerssury or desiruble.

'lhe conduit l'nhould be constructed with u slight downward ineline from the meltinglnnk to the further end of the refining-lurnaeo, no as to indium and permit n. tree end an-3y liow of the molten gloss lo itn exlremeend.

'lhe uulilod olf operation of the :uipurutue above described is no follows: When the raw muterinl is thoroughly melted, the molten gloss rirsiur, to the surface in the melting-tun in 2t thoroughly molten (but unrefined) condition and reaching nbove the level of the opening oi? the conduit 0 flows slowly in n shuliow stream into the refining-furnace to the extreme end of the conduit, the dross or impuritiee on. its surface being prevented from escaping with it from the tunic by the heating bridges F l The slight depth'of the current of molten metal in the conduit (whichv should not exceed one or one and oneludf. inches) readily permits the rapid escape of the gases contained in the metal when it leures the lnnk and also ol its rapid cooling, so that it maybe drnwn oil through the open ingrs in the conduit into the pots (l (l in a thoroughly-rollnod condition and at a. temperoturewhich will not tend toweuken or destroy the pots and which will permit of the metal being drnwn oil from the pots for roll ing" into plates without lurther loss of time. liy the use ol'l-he air and gun chambers or regeuerzttors ll 11 and the pots ronnectiug the some with the relining-l'm-uuce the temporuture of the bitter may be regulated by the operator as may be required for keeping the metal in the pots in a proper condition for working by the introduction of more or less gun or nir. I

As on my invention it may be stated that by the old process the usual production from n twentypot furnace, which requires twenty-live to thirty men to operate it, is about three thousand square feet of pluteglues in twenty-foo r honrs, \yhile by the use of an apparatus embodying my invention the production will be increased (using the some number of pets) to ten thousand squure feet in the some period of time, while only twenty-one men will be required to operate it when working continuously, It will be readily seen, therefore, that by the use 0i my invention a very grout our in 5.: umy be effected in the cost of production.

it is evident that the eoustruetiou and urruugoment of the various parts of an upper ratus embodying my invention may be eonsiderubl y varied 1: rom the precise forms and urruugement shown in the druiivings, andll do not wish tolimit myself to the precineennutruetion therein shown, the some being merely one form of a combination tank-undpot refining-furnace embodying my inven' tion, which form I believe to be a desirable and preferable one. I

lluving tl us deseribedmy invention, what l Qh'tillhmlillli desire to serum by Letters lntent, inf i 1. ll uppurntun'l'or the manufacture of glues, the combination of a. tank-furnace, u refiuiugdurnnce, a conduit extended longitudinallylhroughoutl-herefining lurnuceond illuslrntion ol' the saving ell'eeled by through which itcom m unicatcs with the tank furnace, spouts extended laterall from said conduit, and means for supporting pots in said refining-furnace beneath said spouts, substantially as described.

2. In apparatus for the manufacture of giass, the combination of a tank-furnace, a refining-furnace having therein a longitudinailyextenclcil conduit and an air-space be uesth the same, said conduitbeing in communication with the 'mnk-fumace, spouts extended laterally from said ccnduihami meavrs for supporting pots in said refining-furnace beneath said spouts substantially as de scribed. A

In apps-Mus for the manufacture of glass, the combination of a tank-furnace, a. refining-furnace having a. central air-space therein with longitudinallyextended walls on each side of said space, a conduit extended longitudinally throughout the refining-fut" nace above said air-space and communicating at one end with the tank-furnace, spouts ex- EDWARD FORD.

Witnesses:

E. LEYDEN FORD, 3,13. FORD. Jr

tended laterally from both sides of said con- 

